What is special about neurological physiotherapy?

Hi all,

as part of a paper I'm writing, I need to clarify what is special about
neurological physiotherapy.

It seems like an obvious question but when I try to get into it I'm a bit confused.

can anyone elaborate on the topic? maybe in relation to other sections of the profession.

any tips on where to start from will be great.

thanks in advance,

pulke

Hi Pulke,

In the english speaking world, dividing our profession into various areas of "expertise" has been fashionable for I do not know how long.
Being Dutch myself, it took me a while to understand.
Like in many northern european countries, we are used to being seen als "generalists" or "specialists". Most generalists work with all kinds of patients, neurological,orthopaedic, cardiovascular, pulmonary and the like.

My personal opinion is that every patient is also a neurological patient. We cannot really divide a patient into various "specialized areas".
You cannot treat aan orthopaedic problem without considering the nerves. You cannot treat the pulmonary patient without considering the muscles, nerves and circulation. How neurological ? or orthopaedic? is a herniated disk or a adolescent ideopathic scoliosis I wonder.

Good luck with your study and search.
The advice I have always given interested students is to generalize first and specialize later.......

As an answer to your question I suggest you try to "read" as many english textbooks as you can... it will give you an impression of what the english understand under "neurologic" physio. I would certainly suggest getting into contact with a few Uni´s in the UK. They can probably send you a lot of information as well.

esther de ru

Hi,
first of all, Esther is completely right in principle. That's why a lot of PTs now call themselves Neuro-Muscular Physios.

But to offer annother answer to your question:
I am what's called a "Neuro Physiotherapist" here in NZ, as this is the job description. This title is neither defined, nor do we as yet have standards for it. However, the College of PT in NZ is currently working on a definition and "requirements to fulfil" to start introducuing the titel of "Specialist Physiotherapist", as it is common in Britain.

Here, the specialist titel currently only indicates that you have got masses of clinical experience with clients in a particular area (e.g. Neurolgy) and have done a lot of formalised professional development in this area. You might have also done tertiary papers for certificate/ diploma/ degree in Physiotherapy. They offer these for Cardiopulmonary.../ Orthopaedic .../ Manual Therapy .../ Neurological .../ Rehabillitation, but there might be more.

Regards,
Andrea

Hi all,

as part of a paper I'm writing, I need to clarify what is special about
neurological physiotherapy.

It seems like an obvious question but when I try to get into it I'm a bit confused.

can anyone elaborate on the topic? maybe in relation to other sections of the profession.

any tips on where to start from will be great.

thanks in advance,

I would say...
it is an interesting questions and the answer lies in cultural differences in my opinion.

I have come to understand that... our profession is very diverse....
Every country has their own opinion of what physiotherapy or physical therapy is. Having worked in Spain, Germany and Holland, I know of these countries and believe me there are HUGH differences in these countries alone. I sometimes see questions on this forum from your part of the world about physical agents that have made me think.... are they still using all of that stuff??????
In Spain they are, but not in Holland.

Maybe a paper about all the cultural differences (as background) to your question might be very interesting for all of us.

Here in Spain, massage is seen as belonging to our profession only and nobody else is allowed to give a massage!!! In Germany and Holland and in many other countries, it is another profession with education from 8 weeks (for everybody) to 3-4 yrs university education to become a medical massage therapist.

For more information you will have to go to all the professional organisations. You can find them all on Welcome to the World Confederation for Physical Therapy website | WCPT.org

good luck
Esther